A problem that has existed for decades is the age old question of how to prevent crawling insects from infesting a food source such as a pet dish, an outdoor cookout or picnic. The most persistent, and usually successful of the crawling insects are ants.
It is well documented that once a single ant makes contact with a food source, it may easily draw an entire community of ants within a matter of minutes. The way that the ant accomplishes this feat is quite simple. When the ant locates a food source, it will return to the physical location of its colony leaving a chemical along the trail back to the colony. The other ants in the colony are then able to return to the location of the food source by following the chemical trail. Within minutes, a pet food dish, or a picnic area can be infested with literally hundreds of ants.
The ants generally will accumulate on or near the food source. However, if some method was available to eliminate the opportunity to reach the food source, the potential for infestation would be minimized. The opportunity for infestation is further minimized if an ant is prevented from leaving its chemical trail directly to a food source.
Many standard crawling insect traps are commercially available and have been disclosed in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,790,417 issued to Brembeck, U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,149 issued to East, U.S. Pat. No. 3,441,003 issued to Du Mond et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,609 issued to Partelow et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,365 issued to Thompson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,798 issued to Rera, U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,080 issued to Haney, U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,363 issued to McGaha and U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,772 issued to Salinas all employ a type of pet feeder device that may prevent crawling insects such as ants and roaches from reaching the food dish. However, each of these patented devices require that a moat containing some liquid be used to prevent the insects from reaching the food source.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,626 issued to Haake, Sr. also employs a pet feeder device that may prevent crawling insects such as ants and roaches from reaching a food dish. However, this patented device requires the use of a pesticide that kills the insect as it attempts to climb toward the food source. The use of a pesticide is particularly undesirable where pets are involved due to the toxic effect they may have on the animal should they ingest the pesticide.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,506 issued to Sanders also teaches a pet feeder device that may prevent crawling insects such as ants and roaches from reaching a food dish. However, this patented device requires the use of a sticky substance on the top surface of a base portion below the food dish to trap the crawling insects. This patent will trap insects as long as the insects themselves cannot form a physical bridge over the sticky substance. When this occurs, other insects may simply crawl over the top of the trapped insects to reach the food dish.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,167,978 issued to Jennerich, U.S. Pat. No. 1,265,481 issued to Mosby, U.S. Pat. No. 944,568 issued to Mercer, U.S. Pat. No. 52,576 issued to Lamb, U.S. Pat. No. 533,017 issued to Peeler, and U.S. Pat. No. 21,726 issued to Shell, all teach devices devoted to trapping insects. However, the present device is not devoted to trapping or harming any insect. Furthermore, no use of a moat or insecticide is required in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,192 issued to Adams teaches a bird feeder having a cup like container for the bird seed. However, this patent does not teach the ability to prevent crawling insects from reaching the feeder bowl without a moat or insecticide.
The flexibility and simplicity that prevents crawling insects from accessing pet feeders or picnic tables without the use of a moat or insecticides, is a substantial improvement over the prior art.